JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Aug. 30, 2009)- For the second time in the three days the ETSU women's soccer team fell in heartbreaking fashion, dropping its home opener to Liberty 2-1 Sunday at Summers-Taylor Soccer Stadium in Johnson City.

As play got underway the Bucs quickly fired two shots on goal - one each by freshman forward Tori Head (Kingsport, Tenn.) and junior forward Terri Miller (Cape Coral, Fla.) - that were denied by Lady Flame sophomore keeper Karen Blocker.

Minutes later, ETSU's offensive pressure continued as Miller's shot was saved again by Blocker, as was the rebound attempt by sophomore midfielder Genna Petersen (Loveland, Ohio).

"I was good to see our offense use the tactical adjustments early on that we talked about yesterday in practice," said head coach Heather Henson. "We did a great job holding the ball until we needed to release a pass into the midfield. Our composure was there and the forwards did an outstanding job moving the angles of attack, which put pressure on their backline."

After ETSU fired eight shots in the first 13 minutes of play Liberty's offense responded with five of their own, including the only goal of the half by the Lady Flame forward Silvia Betancourt.

"We got a little bit on our heels when Liberty made some changes," said Henson. "We didn't make the right reads when their players moved forward. I thought our midfield and defenders allowed too much space and didn't step up and pressure the ball. That allowed Liberty to find some rhythm and score its goal."

After a number of scoring opportunities slipped past ETSU to start the second half, junior forward Jessica Huntington (Newport News, Va.) knotted the match up at 1-1. The Virginia native fired home her first career goal off of an outstanding pass from fellow classmate Morgan Jutras (Colleyville, Texas).

"We made some adjustments in the second half which expanded our attack and gave more room for our forwards," said Henson. "We talked about switching the point of our offense and Jessica's goal was because of that. Our midfielders played the ball up and Jessica did a great job staying wide when Morgan crossed the pass."

Just when it looked like ETSU had captured the momentum Liberty answered back, as freshman forward Madison Short knocked home the game winner in the 84th minute.

"We simply gave up too many chances today," said Henson. "I was proud of our effort in the second half coming back like we did, but ultimately we gave up too many shots and corners this afternoon."

The Bucs return to action with their third road match of the season Friday Sept. 4 at Radford.

For more information on the ETSU women's soccer team please visit www.ETSUBucs.com. Also you can follow daily post and updates on the official ETSU women's soccer team Twitter page at www.twitter.com/ETSUSoccer.